Black and White
by EmperorDoofenshmirtz
Summary: Isabella was prepared to go to extraordinary lengths for very small things. Especially if it involved Phineas. One-shot.


**Hey hey, kids! I know I'm currently writing TSART, but writing about all the darkness and violence really tired me out (and judging from the lack of reviews for that chapter, it may be a bit too much). Plus, writing Thomas Rains for too long makes you want to reach through the screen and throttle him. So, to lighten my writing for a bit, here's a brief oneshot. Fanfare! I'll be back to writing my main story now.**

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Dialectic logic, as Isabella had learned from Apocalypse Now, was when you simplified your relationships to either loving someone, or hating them. It seemed to her that dialectics was basically comparing black to white, in a split second. This was ridiculous, she knew. The world was more complicated than that. In regards to rapid decision-making however… When Phineas was involved, she made split second decisions a lot. Actually, she mused wryly, as she rappelled her way down Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, it was this irrational, spontaneous thinking that had gotten her here in the first place.

Phineas had a rather encyclopaedic knowledge, particularly in regards to cinema, and he was always telling people about the movie he had watched the previous night. He seemed to be especially attached to old, Universal horror films, such as the 'Invasion of the Human Overlords' series, and the film that Isabella vaguely recalled had something to do with teleporters. Being Phineas, he would often invite the others to watch the films with him, which usually resulted in the five of them huddled in front of the television into the early morning. So, needless to say, Isabella loved it.

Isabella had been walking past the DVD store in downtown Danville when she saw it. Placed in the window was an ancient projector reel of 'The Invisible Man', from 1933. Scurrying towards the window, Isabella immediately noted the high price typical of such a treasure. She inwardly cursed some higher deity for taunting her with something she couldn't have. And it was here that she broke every Fireside Girl rule in the book – without any prior planning, any recon, any idea, she called her subordinates on the Isa-signal.

Gretchen, Adyson, Milly, Katie, Ginger and Holly seemed to shoot out of the ground, appearing from increasingly unlikely places like the inside of a mailbox, parachuting from the sky and in Adyson's case, literally out of the ground – she drilled her way through the concrete wearing a miner's hardhat and a determined look.

"You called, chief?" Gretchen saluted.

"This goes against everything I've taught you," Isabella said, slowly thinking her dialogue through. "But… I need us to raise a lot of money. Quickly."

"For weapons?" asked Adyson.

"For playing the stock market?" cried Gretchen.

"For buying the allegiance of an African warlord?" questioned Milly.

"FOR SCIENCE?" Holly enquired.

Isabella fidgeted nervously.

"Umm… for love, I think…" she said sheepishly.

"GROUP HUDDLE!" Adyson exclaimed, and the unit shrank away from Isabella, debating in hushed tones. Simultaneously, they turned back to Isabella and chorused:

"We'll do it!"

Isabella brightened uncertainly.

"Really? Thanks a lot, I really owe you guys."

"We've come to the conclusion that we are background types," Gretchen said solemnly, and the others nodded. "And we'd actually liked to be involved in the story, so we're helping."

"Okay," grinned Isabella. "For love, then. We're going to need a lot of cupcakes."

She knew her troop was loyal, but she had not expected them to actually air-lift the cupcake factory into the centre of town for her. The people not involved in today's 'Big Idea' flocked to the scene, desperate to find out what was happening, and in some cases, where their cars had gone. Isabella was surprised at how well they sold – in less than an hour they had more than enough. She approached Gretchen, whistling happily.

"I've got what I came for," Isabella beamed. "So I'll be off now."

"Sure thing chief. We're going to keep earning here. Got to be something else we can use it for."

Isabella burst into the store, waving money overhead, excitement barely contained. Phineas was going to love this! She slammed the money on the counter, and the clerk jumped slightly.

"The Invisible Man, please,"

The clerk's eyes remained fixed on Space Adventure playing on an overhead screen. In a nasal tone, he calmly replied:

"No."

Isabella's face twitched dangerously and she suppressed the urge to pull the man over the counter. Instead, she twisted her face to be as cute as possible, and in a sickly sweet voice, enquired, "Why not?"

The clerk adjusted his backward baseball cap, still refusing to actually look.

"Some German dude bought it like an hour ago."

Isabella began to leave.

"Maybe I can buy it from him," she thought aloud, walking to the exit.

"You might want to hurry," droned the clerk. "He said he was gonna burn it."

Isabella swivelled on the spot, panicked.

"WHAT? Where did he go?"

"That big purple building. Y'know the one that looks like an English kid?"

She was gone before he finished his sentence.

And that was why she was rappelling down the building, moving from window to window, sparing no time. Luckily the reel was on the top floor, lying on a table in view of a window. Usually, Isabella was one to abide by law, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and so she melted the glass with some liquid from a vial in her utility belt. She swung into the strange building, quietly detaching her harness and lying it aside. A sudden noise caused her to dive behind a counter.

"Almond brittle, almond brittle, almond brittle, tastes slightly better than… spittle, I guess?" Some sort of doctor, or pharmacist was walking out of the kitchen, pausing at the reel on the table. "Ah, yes. Well I have some time before Perry the Platypus gets here."

He pulled out some sort of laser gun from his coat, holding it to the unresponsive reel.

"Being invisible worked out for you, didn't it? You're mocking me with your success! Well, how about I disintegrate you?"

Isabella watched as the eccentric man began to pull on the trigger, the quiet groaning of the gun a deafening roar in her head. With lightning fast reactions, she cracked her sash like a whip, lassoing the reel and pulling it to safety half a second before the beam exited the gun.

The scientist(?) stood in the same position, gazing at his hand that had previously held a priceless film reel. Isabella held her breath.

"Hmm." Doofenshmirtz mused. "I guess this inator works better than I thought. I was expecting a puff of smoke or something. Oh well. How do you like me now, Claude Rains?"

The man stalked off to other areas of his apartment and Isabella let out a sigh of relief. She smiled to herself and slipped silently from the window, quickly attaching the harness and abseiling down to freedom.

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"PHINEAS! Phineas, Phineas, Phineas…"

SMACK.

Isabella opened her eyes groggily, to find that she was attached to the screen door of the Flynn-Fletcher house. Phineas was standing on the inside, looking rather concerned, while Ferb calmly ate a sandwich, obviously enjoying the bizarre turn of events. Phineas carefully opened the door, and Isabella peeled off of it, landing daintily on her feet, as if that had been her plan all along.

"Are you okay?" Phineas' brow furrowed.

Out of breath, Isabella held out the reel for Phineas to see. He took it, studying it with interest. A smile spread across his face.

"Is this for me?" At her nod, he enthusiastically embraced her, lifting her from the ground. "Thanks Isabella! You're the best friend anyone could hope for!"

She didn't know whether to swoon or to protest the fact that she couldn't breath in his bear-hug. He put her down gently, eyes dancing with excitement. He absent-mindedly brushed a stray hair from her face, not noticing her skin turn bright pink.

"We can watch this tonight!" The concern suddenly returned. "That was a pretty bad collision. You need any help?"

She gratefully held out her arm and he helped her inside, passing the reel to Ferb as they entered. Ferb watched as his brother led the girl to the living room, presumably to sit her down. He rolled his eyes – the fall hadn't been _that_ bad. Lazily biting into his sandwich, he glanced at the reel. His calculating mind brought the price estimate to roughly fifteen hundred dollars. An eyebrow was raised, impressed. You could say a lot about the two, but while their actions may appear to be random, they always followed a common theme. Ferb snoted and wondered where he could find someone that devoted to _him._

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**Thanks for reading! Piece of trivia: the clerk is supposed to be Randall from the View Askewniverse. Also, I don't seem to able to write a story without Ferb. Hurm.**


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